“The irony is not lost on me and it’s not lost on the American public,” Haas said. “Very ironic that an hour and a half investigation into two women shouting in the Senate gallery takes place and yet real criminals and other prohibited purchasers get willy nilly access to fire arms.”
This goes beyond "irony." In fact, I would say "indignant outrage" would be be a better term for what the two women -- who were both profoundly affected by gun violence -- were subjected to after being escorted from the U.S. Senate following the voicing of their frustrations at the end of the Senate vote on Wednesday that failed to advance legislation for background checks on firearms purchases.
Both women shouted "Shame on you!" in succession at the 46 senators that had just voted against a compromise amendment to expand background checks for gun purchases online and at gun shows. The women were sitting with other members of a group of gun violence victims as the vote was taken. The amendment was said to be crucial to keeping firearms out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill.
The pair has first-hand experience with the consequences of the broken system. In 2011, Maisch was hailed as a hero for disarming Tucson shooter Jared Loughner by preventing him from reloading a fresh magazine. Haas’ daughter Emily was shot twice during the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007 and survived, leading her to become a proponent of stronger gun regulations. But on Wednesday afternoon, the two women faced tighter scrutiny for interrupting a Senate proceeding than many individuals seeking to purchase guns.
As they left the Senate gallery, a police officer approached and asked them to follow him. The three walked downstairs to a public hallway, where they were peppered with questions: “What’s your name?” “Where are you from?” “What are your Social Security numbers?” The officer left to run a background check on the women, who were instructed to sit on a bench. Another uniformed officer watched over them, even escorted Haas to the bathroom and told her she couldn’t lock the stall door.
Geez, background checks A-OK Here!
In a phone interview with ThinkProgress, Haas once again voiced her frustrations.
“I just can’t fathom that these people don’t have a heart. If they had seen, just one miniscule of the pain I’ve seen from the Virginia Tech families and so many other families that I’ve worked with in the last 6 years, they couldn’t help but want to do something about stopping gun violence.”
Ah, but the background checks weren't over yet.
About an hour later, the women were once again questioned by yet another law enforcement official, asking them what their intentions were and why they were in Washington, and how long they planned to stay. All in all, the ordeal took almost two hours, which ironically, is approximately 115 minutes longer than it takes the average firearms purchaser to complete their transaction.
This entire gun legislation fiasco has been nothing short of a national embarrassment. But someone should tell that to our esteemed ignominious lawmakers.
They seem impervious to shame.